Bookholder



June 4, 1940.

J. BELL ET AL BOOK HOLDER Filed May 9, 1939 Patented June 4, 1940 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE BOOKHOLDER Application May 9, 1939, Serial No. 272,593

a In Canada March 10, 1938 11 Claims.

This invention relates to bookholders. Quite a number of proposals have been made as to bookholders embodying means for supporting and holding an open book for reading, copying and the like. While most of these structures perform their functions in a fairly eflicient manner, in the'majority of cases they represent rather complicated structures and have not gone into general use, because of the fact that they are rather bulky and would require a special storage space and necessitate that they be taken out from their storage space constantly, set up on a table or desk and opened out to receive the book. Consequently, they are disadvantageous, through the fact that they require a number of special steps to place them in operation, apart from the fact that in many cases they require a great deal of manipulation to arrange for the mounting of the book.

According to the present invention, a very simplified and eflicient type of holder is provided, which is swingably positioned in a mounting such as a desk top formed with a recess into which a portion of the holder may be projected and 25 held such that the back support of the holder may be caused to lie substantially flush with the top of the desk or other support, thereby permitting the holder to be put out of the way in a simple operation while leaving it readily available so that by a simple upward swinging of the back portion it is immediately positioned on the desk or support for receiving the book to be supported.

The holder includes in addition to the back support, a ledge for supporting the lower end of the book, which is provided with swingable means for retaining the pages in open position, the swingable means being normally folded in against theback of the holder when the holder is to be swung down to its collapsed position.

' The novel features of, the invention will be readily apparent by references to the following specification and accompanying drawing. 45 In the drawing:

' Figure 1 illustrates a fragmentary perspective view of a desk with the book holder mounted thereon and shown in upright position. Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the 50 holder showing it in open position ready to receive the book and illustrating part of the desk or support fragmentarily in elevation.

Figure 3 is a partial sectional side elevation of the holder showing it in upright position and illustrating a desk fragmentarily in section, the

recess for a portion of the holder being clearly shown in this view. 1

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of the holder shown in collapsed position, part of it lying within the recess in the desk or other support which is shown fragmentarily in section.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the book holder in collapsed position showing the'desk or other support with which it is associated, in dotted lines.

Figure 6 is a front elevation of the preferred type of frame or base for swingably receiving the book holder, and, Figure '7 is a fragmentary plan view of an end of the supporting ledge.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates a desk top or other suitable support on which the book holder B is mounted. The book holder preferably comprises a back II] of any suitable shape, preferably as illustrated, the lower end of which is preferably bent as at II to provide the ledge I2 extending from the back substantially at right angles and forming a support for the lower end of the book. The ledge I2 is spaced upwardly from the lower end of the back and the bent portion II is bent in such a way as to embrace a transverse rod or the like I3 designed to project on each side of the back In to form ,pintles for swingably mounting the holder in its support. The forward end of the ledge is preferably bent downwardly and inwardly as at I4 and I5, thus providing a ledge of channel section which is substantially rigid and durable.

The combined back I!) and ledge I2 with accessories to be described hereinafter may be considered as a holding unit which is swingably mounted in any desirable way so that it may be collapsed and quickly dispensed with, or, on the other hand, quickly brought into operation. To this end a recess I6 is provided in the desk top or support A into which the ledge I2 may be projected as shown in Fig. 4 so that the back IIJ lies substantially flush with the top of the desk or support A. p

The holding unit might readily be mounted in the support A alone and caused to function in the desired manner, but it is preferable to provide a base or frame I! which may be generally U-shaped in form and provided in its side members I8 with opposite arcuate slots I9 into which the pintles' formed by the rod I3 are designed to project. The frame may also be provided with side lugs 20 which may overlie the upper edges of the recess I6 in a desk or support A through which screws may be projected to hold the device 65,

firmly in the mounting.

As will be clear from a consideration of Figures 3, 4 and 5, the pintles or projecting ends of the rod l3 lie in the lower end of the arcuate slots I9 when the holding unit is in upright position, so that during operation to collapsed position the swinging movement of the holder causes the projecting ends of the rod 13 to move upwardly in the arcuate slots l9 until they reach the upper ends of these slots when the holder is in collapsed position as clearly shown in Fig. 5. When in collapsed position, it is preferable to hold the unit againstundue vibration or the like by upwardly bending the lower bar 2| of the base or frame ll so that its mid-point 22 provides a resilient frictional engagement with the forward face M of the ledge 12; thus the holder is held firmly in its collapsed position but may be readily moved to upright position as the resilient engagement of the lower bar 2| will not offer a substantial resistance to the positive movement of the holder.

When the holder or holding unit has been swung to upright position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be noted that the lower portion l5 of the ledge l2 and a lower portion of the back it] rest respectively against the opposite upper edges of the desk top or support surrounding the recess H3 so that the swinging unit is firmly supported in its upright position. The arcuate slots l9 cause the holding unit to assume this position since when the projecting ends or pintles of the bar l3 rest in the lower end of the slots l9, the ledge and lower portion of the back assume the position as shown in Fig. 3 automatically, and moreover these arcuate slots permit the automatic return of these portions of the holder into the recess l6 when the holder is swung to its lower collapsed position illustrated in Fig. 4.

A foldable page retaining means is provided through the medium of the arms 23, the inner ends of which are pivoted by the pivot pins 25 to the outer face at the upper ends of the ledge l2, the outer ends of the arms being bent upwardly as at 25 to engage the pages of the book positioned in the holder when the arms are swung to their normal operative position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. However, when the book holder is to be swung to inoperative position, the arms 23 are swung inwardly towards each other and assume theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6 clearly within the framework of the holder so that they cannot interfere with the edges of the recess [5, during the folding operation. However, the ends 25 of the arms 23 may project beyond the edge of the recess l6, and to this end a secondary recess 26 may be provided in the desk top or other support A, positioned intermediately between the ends of the recess l 6 at which point the ends 25 of the arms 23 are positioned when they are folded. Thus the secondary recess 26 accommodates these projecting ends of the arms 23.

The book holder is also provided with fingers 2'! which project upwardly from each end of the ledge l2 and are spaced from the back ill to a small degree as to permit the covers of the book to enter the space between the said fingers 21 and back l0 so that the covers are held in open position regardless of the pages. Thus in changing from one page to another, there is no possibility of the back or front cover swinging. These fingers may be an integral part of a resilient bar 28, of a length substantially corresponding to the length of the ledge l2, from which the said fingers 21 are bent upwardly, the

bar 28 being fastened to the lower face of the ledge I2 by means of the pivots or bolts24 which fasten the swingable arms 23 on the upper face of the ledge I2. The said bar being normally. arched in shape, and through its pivotable pins or bolts 24 to arms 23 being drawn substantially flat to the under face of the ledge I2 thus provides durable and continuous resistance to undue looseness of the said arms 23 in their engagement with the pages.

structure.

.The ends of the ledge l2 are preferably recessed as at 29 (see Fig. '7) to receive the upwardly projecting fingers 21, such that the outer faces of these fingers lie substantially flush with the ends of the ledge l2. Thus, they cannot hinder the folding of the holder in its support.

In operation, assume that the book holder is in collapsed position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and it is desired to use it, the top of theback I0 is lifted and the holding unit thus pivots in the frame or base I! orin the desk top or support A if that alone is used, and the projecting ends or pintles of the rod l3 slide downwardly in the arcuate slots it until the ledge 12 projects slightly above the upward edge of the recess l6 and rests thereon, while the lower part of the back ill rests on the rearward edge of the recess H3. The arms 23 may then be swung outwardly and the back and front covers of the book secured in the space between the fingers 21and the back 58 so that the book is firmly held in At the same time it serves to'. provide for a more rigid and substantial upright position. The book may then be opened to the selected page and the arms 23 swung so that the projecting ends 25 engage the open pages of the book. The book is then held in its desired position. When through with the holder, it is a very simple operation to remove the book therefrom, swing in the arms 23 to their folded position shown in Fig. 6 and then'merely rotate the back Ill downwardly until it lies substantially flush with the top of the desk or other support, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

It will be apparent therefore, that we have pro,

vided a book holder. of simple construction and Y which does not require any special extra spacefor storage, nor does it require several operations to place it in use, such as obtaining the stand from a storage space, mounting it on a desk opening it for use as well as the collapsing of the stand and transporting it to the storage space after use. The holder therefore is readily adaptable to school use and can be made part of stand-- ard equipment at very little extra cost to provide a structure which is never in the way and always'ready to hand.

The preferred form of structure has of course been disclosed. However, it isquite susceptible to minor changes, while maintaining the principle involved; for instance, instead of employinga rod l3 separate pintles might be employed in' each side, or even be formed by providing projections from the metal of the side, whereas it Various modifications may be made in invention without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the claims, and therefore the exact forms shown are to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

We are aware that prior to our invention, book holders have been made having means to hold a book upright,with separate means to hold the book open for reading, and therefore do not claim such a combination broadly, but we do claim:

l. A bookholder comprising in combination with a recessed mounting, a holding unit including a back and supporting ledge, connected together and disposed at substantially right angles to one another, said back being'designed to support the back of a hook, said ledge supporting the lower end of the book, swingable retaining means carried by the ledge for retaining pages of the supported book in open position, said means being swingable from a normally foldable position into engagement with said pages, and means for swingably mounting the holding unit in the recess of said mounting, whereby said ledge and retaining means may be disposed in said recess and said back may be disposed substantially flush with surface of the mounting when not in use.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 in which the unit is swingably mounted on a base, said base being projected into and secured in the recess in the mounting.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1 in which resilient means is provided within the recess designed to engage a portion of the ledge whereby a positive movement of the holder is required to l place it in operative or inoperative position.

i. A book holder comprising in combination with a recessed mounting, a holding unit including a back and a supporting ledge, connected together and disposed at substantially right angles to one another, said back being designed to support the back of a book, said ledge supporting the lower end of the book, swingable arms mounted on the ledge having projecting portions for engaging and retaining the pages of the supported book in open position, said arms being swingable from a normally folded position disposed within the area of the ledge to a position projecting beyond the ledge, means for mounting the holding unit in its mounting comprising at least two plates being designed to be projected into said recess and disposed on either side of the holding unit means for securing the plates in position on the mounting and means for swingably mounting the holding unit on said plates whereby said ledge and retaining means maybe disposed in said recess and said back may be disposed-substantially flush with the surface of the mounting when not inuse.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 in which the plates being connected together by a lower cross bar to form a unitary frame upon which the holding is swingably mounted.

6. A bookholder comprising in combination with a recessed mounting, a holding unit including a back and a supporting ledge, connected together and disposed at substantially right angles to one another, said back being designed to support the back of a book, said ledge supporting the lower end of the book, swingable arms mounted on the ledge having projecting portions for engaging and retaining the pages of the supported book in open position, said arms being swingable from a normally folded position disposed within the area of the ledge to a position projecting beyond the ledge, means for mounting the holding unitin its mounting comprising at least two plates being designed to be projected into said recess and disposed on either side of the holding unit, the plates being connected together by a lower cross bar said cross bar being upwardly bent to provide a resilient member for engaging a portion of the ledge of the holding unit.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6 in which the holding unit is provided with projecting pintles and in which each end plate of the frame is provided with an arcuate slot for receiving the pintles and permitting a rotational and sliding movement of the holding unit when moved from operative to inoperative position and vice versa.

8. A bookholder comprising a holding unit including a back and a projecting ledge connected together and disposed at substantially right angles to one another, said unit being secured on a mounting, said ledge being provided with swingable arms pivotally connected thereto and swing able from a normal folded'position within the confines of the ledge to an operative position projecting beyond the confines of the ledge and into engagement with open pages of a book being supported, fingers projecting upwardly from the ledge and spaced apart from the back whereby to receive and retain the covers of the supported back in said space between said fingers and back, said fingers being bent from a bar of substantially corresponding length to the length of the ledge and disposed beneath the ledge, said bar being secured to the ledge by the pivot pins retaining the swingable arms.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8 in which the ledge is integrally connected with the back and bent upwardly in spaced apart relation from the back and then outwardly to form the ledge proper, the forward portion of the ledgebeing bent downwardly and inwardly to provide a substantially rigid ledge structure, the forward portion of the said ledge forming a bearing for assisting in maintaining the holding'unit in its upright position.

10. The device as claimed in claim 8 in which the ledge is integrally connected with the back and bent upwardly in spaced apart relation from the back and then outwardly to form the ledge proper whereby pintles projecting from the sides of the holding unit are disposed within the space between the back and the ledge and secured therein, said pintles serving for the pivotal mounting of the holding unit on a suitable base.

11. A device as claimed in claim 8 in which the said bar is of resilient material providing continuous friction to the swingable arms.

JAlVIES BELL. ANNA M. BELL. 

